A Sound of Wonder
by Trekkie S. Monster
Summary: What happens when two minor characters are selected to change the past and therefore change the future? One little detail can mean a lot. FredAngelina, LeeKatie.
1. Ben, Federer, and College! Oh My!

"Promise to owl," Katie choked, and hugged her friend tightly.

"Of course," Angelina assured her. "I'll come and visit too, by Floo Powder if I can." Finally the girls broke contact. Meanwhile, beside them, their boyfriends, Fred and Lee, respectively, did an awkward male-hug, before eventually going in for the real thing.

Fred was starting a joke shop with his twin, George, while Angelina and Lee were going off to college in London. Angelina hadn't been away from Katie, or her other best friend, Alicia, since the first year Katie had come to Hogwarts. Katie knew eventually Angie would have to go, and she had been dreading the day. But what will come will come.

Katie was insanely jealous; at least Fred and Angelina would be in London together, while she'd be away from Lee for who knows how long. He kept insisting he'd come by Floo Powder as Angelina had, but she wasn't entirely convinced. If he really loved her, he'd stay, right?

_Of course he loves you, _a voice in her head told her.

"Of course I love you," Lee told her, as he took her hands just outside Hogwarts. "I'm sorry, love, I have to go now though. Orientation's at 8. Love you." He kissed her and Apparated. Fred and Angelina followed suit and Katie felt very much alone as she trudged back to the castle.

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"Welcome to Albus Dumbledore Wizarding College," began a man behind a podium, who was probably the Headmaster. He had brown hair down to his navel, and wore a suit (without a tie), though underneath he had a T-shirt with words on it. When he moved around, Angelina could see it said, "Don't Be Afraid to Disrespect Authority." He had introduced himself as Professor Federer. "As you can tell, this is the first Wizarding College in not only the nation of Britain, but the whole wizarding world. This is an entirely new idea recently thought up by none other than this school's namesake himself. Keep in mind this is just a test run. The curriculum here is basically the jobs that you can obtain as an adult, anything from a job at the Ministry to a Quidditch player. Your only subject is that of your major. You may also choose a minor if you wish. So, for those who are slow—" He looked up for a minute—"This means that you have lots of free time, because you only have a few classes, one at the very least. One of the advantages of Wizard College compared to Muggle College." There were a few sneers in the crowd. "Obviously, this will continue from your school studies, so you will continue to learn spells in these classes, depending on what your chosen subject is."

Angelina whispered to Lee, "He obviously doesn't realize that _he's_ authority."

"Actually, Miss Johnson—" he glanced at her name tag, "I'm the music teacher. The Headmaster gave me a speech card to read to you. So I'm not authority—" he opened his suit to reveal the words to anyone who hadn't seen. "_Anyway_," he continued, but winked at Angelina, "the speech card is—done, so don't break the rules, yada yada yada, and remember, if anyone's having any frat parties—" The students held their breath—"_count me in_!" The students cheered, Lee and Angelina included.

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"So what're you going to major in?" Lee asked Angelina as they walked back to their individual dorms.

"Dunno," Angelina mused, lost in her thoughts. After a pause, she added, "I think it'd be nice to be a Quidditch player, but it's really difficult to get a spot on the team."

"Wow," Lee said. "It'd be cool if you did."

"Yeah," Angelina agreed.

"I'd know a professional Quidditch player," Lee said, puffing out his chest, and Angelina punched him lightly. "No, seriously, it's a great job. You're good enough for it."

"And you could be a Quidditch commentator," Angelina said seriously.

"Me?" Lee said, as if there was anyone else she could be talking to. "Nah. It's a really hard job to get. You'd have to be somewhat famous anyway, like Bagman, the dirty rat he is."

"It also helps if you're a dirty rat," Angelina joked. Lee stuck out his tongue, and abruptly turned into his dorm, still with his tongue out, making Angelina laugh.

"Later," she yelled at the closing door. _Hmm_, she thought as she walked towards her dorm. _It seems nice so far. Out of the teachers I've met…well, one…he seems nice. Hopefully my other teachers will be as nice._ She had reached her dorm. Her roommate wasn't there, and she was kind of tired. _I'll just rest my—_Conk.

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The next morning, Angelina woke feeling very refreshed, but also a bit confused. She saw her roommate—a redhead sprawled out on a bed nearby. She was wearing what didn't look like pajamas and Angelina saw a joint on her nightstand. "Eesh," Angelina said softly, and got ready faster than she would have otherwise. As she was about to leave, she spotted a timetable, which read:

QUIDDITCH PRACTICE

Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Professor Ginepri

5:00pm-7:00pm

QUIDDITCH THEORY

Wednesday and Friday

Professor Clijsters

2:00pm-4:00pm

She noted that they had known what she wanted before she had even expressed an opinion. _Nice._ She met up with Lee at a café near the college. He was there first, and had just sent an owl off. "Who was that?" she asked.

"Katie," he said. "We're meeting her outside Hogwarts at 1:00."

"We?" Angelina asked. "Well, thanks for asking."

"Oh don't pretend you're upset about seeing your best friend." Lee gave her a look, and she had to admit he had a point. "Did you get your timetable?"

"Yeah. I didn't even say what I wanted, but it just gave it to me. Pretty cool, right?"

"So what've you got?"

"Quidditch practice and theory."

"My little obsessive girl," Lee cooed, and Angelina rolled her eyes, but didn't comment. "My roommate got one—his name's Jack, he's a bit odd," he mused. "Anyway," he shook himself out of his trance, "he got his. But I didn't get mine yet."

"Well, you haven't really decided on a major, have you?" Angelina said. Just as the words were off her tongue, a piece of parchment appeared next to Lee, which had a list of the majors and minors you could choose. He studied it closely, before finally throwing up his hands and leaning back in his chair. "There's nothing."

"Lemme see," Angelina coaxed, and took it from him. "Would you be interested in—uh…Ministry work?" He just stared at her. "Okay, moving on—Housew—no…" Lee actually laughed that she had bothered to read that out loud. "There's always music…" Lee made a face.

"What? The teacher's cool. And besides, if you make it in music, and get in a band, whatever, you'll be famous, right? And if you're famous—"

"I can become a _Quidditch commentator_!" Lee's chest swelled to an enormous size.

"Yes, Lee, good job, I'm so glad you got there," Angelina said in baby talk. Lee swatted her away, too excited to care too much. "So, you happy?"

"Yes, Johnson—with the Quaffle, zooms up and down, quick pass to Muffleupagus on the left, and Muff is hit with a Bludger! Not nice there, Shikipoo with the pass—and Johnson with an amazing interception!" He imitated this in the air, but Angelina pretended she didn't know him. People just laughed, to her relief. When he finally bounced back into his chair, she was laughing too.

"A little excited there?" she said sarcastically.

"Just a tad," he measured with his fingers as his timetable appeared. "Yess!"

MUSIC FOR THE VERY DIMWITTED

Thursday and Friday

Professor Federer

2:00pm-3:00pm

PLAYING INSTRUMENTS

Monday and Friday

Professor Federer

5:00pm-7:00pm

"Nice," Angelina said as it appeared. "Federer for both! You better like him, or you're screwed," she said bluntly.

"Thanks," he smirked.

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On Thursday, Lee met Angelina after she had finished practice. "How was it?" he asked without a trace of a greeting.

"Hard," she began. "Hard but fun. There are about six other Chasers there, ten Seekers, a few beaters, and maybe five Keepers. Most of the Seekers aren't that great, but the Keepers are tough. Very cool, though. The teacher's cool, too." Lee was squealing throughout this whole thing as though he'd die if he couldn't tell her how his day was.

"Great," Lee said. "Anyway! So, I haven't actually played any instruments (that's tomorrow), but so far, it's _bitchin_! The teacher, obviously, is cool, but it's a whole other world! My only problem is I can't decide what instrument to play! I mean, there's guitar, which would probably mean lead vocals (which is a plus), then there's the bass, which I'm not so keen on—" Angelina smiled, of course, Lee had to be the center of attention—"But the drums just seem so cool! And—"

"Play the guitar, Lee," Angelina encouraged. "You'll probably have the most fun, I don't think you'd like being a drummer or a bassist. Who knows? Maybe you can sing." Lee pretended to look offended at that, but it didn't work; he was too caught up in everything that had happened that day. After a pause, she added, "So, you up for clubbing?"

"No problem," he said, without hesitating.

When they reached the club, Lee freaked out a bit. "Ang," he murmured. "I'm not sure I like it here."

"Aw, come on," Angelina shouted over the music. "You're a celebrity now, you have to learn these things. It's in your nature." Lee didn't bother to point out he was nowhere close to being a celebrity.

"Ang, I have a girlfriend. I don't like this kind of scene. I don't wanna become the guy who cheats and clubs when his girlfriend's far away."

This made Angelina snap back into reality. "I'm sorry, you're right," she said. "Just let me have one drink. You don't have to talk to anybody you don't want to. You can pretend you're with me, kay?" Lee made a face at her, but she was already at the bar. "Barkeep, give me three Firewhiskeys!" she said with a gleam in her eye. The bartender said nothing, but solemnly reached down and handed them over briefly. She gave him some silver and Lee looked worried.

"Ang, it's Thursday. Are you sure you should be—"

"Whooooo!" she yelled. In the corner, she saw a spot of red—but no, it couldn't be—Fred? "Fred!" she called. He turned and smiled broadly.

"Angie! My Angie!" he bellowed. "Come here, Angie!" She did, with Lee following behind her. "Angie, meet Ben. Ben, Angie." Ben seemed to be the only one who wasn't at least somewhat drunk.

"Fred," Lee began. "I'm not comfortable here. What about Katie?" Fred ignored him.

"Hey, uh—What was your name? Ama—Ang—"

"Angelina," said Angelina.

"Right, right, I need to talk to you for a second. You seem like a trustworthy person," he said, though she was wobbling and was onto her second bottle of Firewhiskey.

"O—kay," she said slowly and followed him, Lee looking a little worried.

"D-don't worry," Fred hiccupped. "She'll be fiiine."

"Listen to me carefully," Ben said when they had gotten far away. He held her nose and poured something in her mouth, despite her protests. "No no, don't worry. It's nothing bad, it's just a—"

"Where am I?"

"Sobering Potion. Anyway, I have a very important deal to make with you. I understand you previously went to school with a one Harry Potter, and had some sort of connection with him."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said suspiciously.

"Right, well, I need you to take this—" he took a tiny hourglass out of his pocket, tapped it with his hand, and it grew to be about a foot long. "You were also involved in something called 'Dumbledore's Army,' am I correct?"

"How do you know all this?" she asked.

"So you are involved in the Order of the Phoenix indirectly, right?" he asked, more talking to himself than to her.

"What?"

"And your boyfriend, Fred is?"

"What?"

"Is your boyfriend _Fred Weasley_?" he asked very slowly, as if he was talking to someone very stupid.

"Yes," she said equally slowly. "But what is going on here? What's the Order of the Phoenix?"

"The Order of the Phoenix is a resistance group against You-Know-Who. They were working during the first war and now are working during the second. Harry Potter and the Weasley family are part of it. What they don't know is the entire Weasley family is in very grave danger right now, including Percy. If I get a Weasley for this job, it will only make it worse. So I've chosen you and your friend—"

"Lee?"

"Boy with dreadlocks? Yes, him. To go on a special mission for the Order of the Phoenix."

"But why us? Why not an Auror or something?"

"This idea isn't a new one," he said. "You-Know-Who has long suspected things like this, and if a child—or, sorry, teenager, goes back in time, it'll look much less suspicious."

"Why am I supposed to believe you?" she asked. "I met you in a bar for Merlin's sake, and now you're telling me I'm on a mission for the Order of the Phoenix, who I'd never heard of until right now? For all I know you could be a Death Eater."

He had obviously prepared for this, because he answered immediately. "Two reasons." He lifted up the sleeve of his shirt, and there was no sign of anything. "No Dark Mark." She still looked skeptical, so he reached into the folds of his jacket, and pulled out a worn photograph that was black and white, but the images were still moving. It was obviously from a very long time ago, but she recognized a few faces. One was the Potters; another was Mad-Eye Moody, who had once been her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, though he was an imposter. She saw Dumbledore when he was younger, and tears filled her eyes. Another was Remus Lupin, and yet another was Sirius Black. The subtitle read, "The Order of the Phoenix."

"What is this supposed to mean?" she asked, sniffing.

"Well," he tapped it with his wand, and muttered "_Revelus,_" and a whole different picture appeared. These faces she didn't recognize. But after a minute, she realized she did recognize three. Two were next to each other, hugging and looking very much in love. One was a frizzy and curly haired woman, with an ear-to-ear grin, and hugging her was a man with an Afro, who occasionally kissed the woman on the cheek. Dumbledore was also in the picture

"My parents," she smiled, and gazed at the subtitle, which read, "The Order of the Phoenix's Founders." But it quickly turned into a frown. "Why haven't they told me?" she wondered.

"I wouldn't know," said Ben, "but can I make a guess?" She nodded without looking at him. "It's probably because they wanted to wait to tell you when you were older, but now I think it's best that I tell you. So, are you ready?"  
"What, now?" she finally looked up.

"No, next Sunday. The sooner the better before anything gets worse."

"Wait a minute," Angelina was frustrated now, "you haven't even told me what I'm doing, what _we're_ doing."

"Angelina, think. Have you ever seen one of these before?" He picked up the hourglass. She shook her head. "It's called a Time-Turner. It turns back time," he added, in case she didn't understand _that_ as well, "one turn is worth about three hours, but if you turn it back ten times slightly fast, one turn becomes worth a year. Now, take this, I'm trusting you know the spell to shrink—" she nodded, "explain it to your friend."

"Wait!" Angelina called. "What am I supposed to do? How far do I go back and what do I do?"

"Your job is to change history. You want to stop You-Know-Who, for the most part, but you do NOT, repeat, do NOT, want to stop anything from happening that gave Harry the scar. Otherwise, it could go horribly wrong and he wouldn't have been the boy who lived, but just 'the poor boy who died, just like every other person You-Know-Who went after. Understand." Again she nodded, but didn't look quite so sure of this. She walked slowly back to Lee, as Ben departed.

"What was that about?" Lee asked, still looking nervous. "You were a long time."

"Big news," she continued.

"Sobering Potion?" Lee asked. She nodded.

"I have something to tell you," she said. "Something _huge_. Get Fred and let's get out of here." She had shrunk the Time-Turner and felt it in her pocket as Lee took the inebriated Fred and they eagerly left the club.

The night hadn't been exactly what either of them had expected.

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Bonus points if anyone can name the theme of the teacher's names.


	2. Cops Are Never Helpful

**"Ladies in gentlemen, we are about to travel in time. I bid you adieu."**

* * *

Lee dragged his friend out of the still pounding club, and Angelina roughly poured the potion into his mouth. He reacted pretty much the same as Angelina, and she struggled to explain the situation to them as best she could. 

"This guy—well, Ben—pretty much gave me a mission."

"Mission?" Lee shook his dreadlocks, while Fred's eyes widened knowingly.

"For the Order?" he asked, trying to be careful in case he was wrong. She nodded, and he seemed relieved. "So, Lee and I are going too? What kind of—"

"Uh—no, honey. Just Lee and _I_. You see, you're a Weasley." He was about to object, but she shushed him. "No no, it's just that you and Harry are Voldemort and the rest's worst enemies. You can't be seen meddling."

"Meddling with what? I don't understand," Lee said, and Fred looked as if he could've said the same thing.

"Well, I have this Time-Turner, which we have to use to go back to some period of time to stop someone from doing something, and therefore stop all this war and stuff from happening. Basically to destroy Voldemort—but in the past." Neither male moved for a few seconds, just stood there with their mouths open for a while, and then Fred thought to speak.

"But—but, Ang, you can't do this." He reached over to her, and attempted to take the Time-Turner.

"Yes I _can_," she snatched it away. "I've always been against Voldemort, but now I can do something about it, like I've wanted to for so long. I hate standing there like a prop while you and Harry fight off those Death Eaters. I wanna kill them before they could have done anything to _Sirius_, to _Dumbledore_, to _anyone_." and her eyes were shining so bright Fred dared not argue.

"You—you sure?" he said weakly, and she nodded fiercely. "Lee?" He didn't speak, but eventually looked up and nodded. Fred didn't have a choice, but he decided to act as if he was letting them go. "Okay then," he said. "Good luck. And, uh—" He leaned over and suddenly kissed Angelina passionately. Lee considerately looked away, and desperately missed Katie. What if he never made it back? What if he never saw Katie again? What if—and he hated to think of this—what if somehow the Death Eaters found out what they were doing and plotted to kill him when he was a baby or something like that, so that he was never there to stop them? As the two parted, there was a crack and Lee Disapparated.

It was freezing and wet out from the rain the previous day, but it barely registered in his mind. He bounded up the stone steps by twos, and then threes. He raced for the common room before anyone could stop him, panting. When he knocked politely on the door, she let out a small squeal and took him into her arms. "Lee! What a nice surprise," she said, though she was wearing her pajamas. He couldn't help but think of how a minute before _he_ was out partying with Fred and Angelina, and felt immediately even more guilty.

"I miss you," he said as an answer. She smiled. "Lee, I miss you too. So what's the occasion?"

"Well, uh, it's kind of a long story," he said nervously. "Uh, Angelina and I were at a bar—" Her eyebrows rose dangerously, but she quickly thought better of it. As he explained it to her completely, she realized what he meant by coming over here.

"I see," she said curtly, "You wanted to come see me before this big adventure."

He noticed the anger, and panicked. "W-what do you mean?"

"I mean that you could've asked me, instead of told me. You just found this out?" she said. He nodded. "Well, what if something happens to you? What'll I do?!" She seemed nearly hysterical now. "Lee, you can't just go jetting off like this! So this is it, just goodbye?! What if I never see you again?" She lay down on her bed.

"Hear this now. I will always come for you." Lee said, leaning over her.

"What?!" she sat up, almost hitting him in the head.

"Muggle movie," he dismissed it. "Katie, listen to me. I have to do this. I have to help them fight—You-Know-Who."

"Yes, _help_, Lee. Help." Katie stood up now. "You shouldn't be expected to solve all the people of the world's problems."  
Frustration overtook him. "You're right. You're right. Harry should." She began to speak, but he cut her off. "No! Everyone's talking about how the Order of the Phoenix works to defeat Voldemort, but if you think about it, it's mostly Harry! Before he was born, we had this whole war. Dumbledore and Sirius and plenty of other Aurors _died_ trying to fight him off, and Harry's been alive through all of it. He's saved the world six times in sixteen years. He's paid his debt. Everyone else should succeed now, because they haven't in the past." She was silent for a moment; then again lay on her bed. "You understa—"

"You're right," she said. "You're right, you're right, you're _right_. I just wish you didn't have to risk your life. You're my boo," she grinned, and he returned it, before jumping up. "I have to go," he pulled her up from her bed and kissed her. "I love you," he said, and Disapparated.

* * *

Angelina was pacing near a comfortable place at their college. Where was Lee? Why did he suddenly leave? As soon as she thought this, though, he was before her eyes. "Lee! Where did you go? You scared me!" she said, absentmindedly thinking she was becoming her mother. 

"Sorry," he said, looking at the ground. "I just—saw you and Fred kissing and realized that I _had_ to go and say goodbye to Katie in case—you know—in case something happens to us." Angie immediately felt a bit guilty. She was a romantic at heart. What you got to do for love, you got to do for love.

She shrugged. "It's OK. I was just afraid because of—the war and everything. Anyway, I'm just glad you're all right. So when do you reckon we should go back to?"

"Well, since Harry was born in 1980, and _it_ happened Halloween night, maybe we should go back to—"

"After the troubles blew over," Angelina interrupted. "December, maybe January 1981. When we were two or so."

"That reminds me," Lee said, interrupting _her_. "We had better be careful not to run into our younger selves. What if they recognize us?"

"Don't play the what-if game, Lee. Let's just get started." She pulled the hourglass out of her pocket, muttered something, then tapped it with her wand, and soon it was back to the size of a shampoo bottle.

"Right. What did the guy say? Ten times backward—Hey, what's this button?" Lee asked, turning it over and grabbing it from her hands.

"_Don't_!" Angelina cried. "Don't touch anything!" she snatched it back. "It says forward. And this one says backward." She adjusted it to the proper spot, and wrapped the chains around them. Lee wrapped the chains around them and Angelina turned it back ten times.

"No, that's not fast enough!" Lee cried. Angelina had only turned it back to 30 hours. "Shit, now they're gonna wonder what we're doing here! Let me do it!" Everyone was staring at them, but Lee turned it faster.

"Hi," Angelina smiled, before disappearing again. When they reappeared, they were flying through the air. "AAAAH!" When they finally reached the ground, they saw battered sidewalk all around them. They were in the middle of London, and there were people staring at them yet again. Angelina didn't blame them; the duo appeared to have fallen out of the sky. "You okay?" Angelina asked.

"Yeah," Lee nodded, looking around. "Yeah, this building was built recently. Right, let's go. It's only been a year, so we better leave before someone recognizes us. So it's on years now, right? It's 1995 now, so we have to go back to January 1981, fourteen times." He turned it back, one, two, three, four, times. But he paused too long before going to the fifth time, and the scenery slightly changed around them. Some of the shops on that London street were different. Cops were strolling all around, looking for crooks. And immediately, when the two appeared, a particularly fat one hobbled over to them.

"Muggles," Lee whispered to Angelina. "I got it."

"Wha'are you whispering about there?" the policeman pointed with his nightstick.

"Nothing, officer," Lee said. "You see, my friend and I—"

"What've you got behind your back?"

"You're quite, uh—alert. I'm sure you're a great asset to the force."

"Pull it out, then." Lee paused, but eventually pulled it out, and aimed it at the police officer. That was the last thing he remembered.

"Smooth, Jordan." Angelina watched him slump and his eyes roll up into his head. "Sweet talking a police officer. Let me do that next time."  
"Ha." The two semi-dragged him to the telephone box where the Ministry was, and left him there. Anyone who came would know what to do with him.

"But you were silent with the spell. I'll give you credit for that," Angelina added as they finished with the poor cop and walked back to where they had left the Time-Turner.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," Lee muttered as they saw the place where the Time-Turner had been. "No. Where is it?" he hissed at Angelina.

"I don't know! You had it!"

"You did."

"Liar."

"Well this definitely isn't helping. Oh Merlin, what if a Muggle has it? We're in deep shit now. You know this is illegal, right?"

"_What?_" Angelina had always considered herself a law-abiding person for the most part (DA excluded).

"Time-Turning is illegal," Lee explained slowly. "You didn't know that?"

"No! I never would've agreed to this if I had known that!"

"You're with a Weasley twin; you can't be this opposed to rule-breaking!" Lee couldn't believe what a goody-goody she was being right now.

"I'm not! I enjoy playing pranks! That's a great part of being with him, but I would never knowingly break _wizarding law_! Don't even bring Fred into this anyway," Angelina hissed haughtily.

"It's for the greater good!"

Angelina had no response to this, for she knew Lee was right in this respect. She eventually settled for, "Doesn't matter. We have to find the Time-Turner before a Muggle gets hold of it. If a wizard finds out that a Muggle got his hands on it, we'll be dead—well, in jail. Which, to my parents, means the same thing. The only way we can get another one is to ask someone—who very well might report us, and you know what that means."

"Let's get looking," Lee ordered.

After they had been looking for a few minutes, Lee thought of something worth asking. "What day is it anyway? The same day we left? September 28th?"

"Look for a newspaper if that's more important than jail," Angelina muttered without looking up.

"Just a general wondering," Lee rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should be the mascot for PMS."

"Excuse you," Angelina turned to him. He covered his face as if she was going to hit him. She took that as cute and decided to wait until later when he was more vulnerable.

* * *

Later, they still hadn't found it, and Angelina, surprisingly, had been the first to give up and go into a shop she "just had to look for a few seconds." Lee resisted the temptation to mention her supposed "PMS" and the mood swings for fear of damage to his face. It was the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley. Lee wasn't quite sure why; Angelina usually didn't care too much about animals one way or the other. Now if it was Katie—Katie! Lee thought about how it seemed so long ago since he had seen her. It wasn't really, but it didn't really feel great to Time Travel: it was both mentally and physically draining. Lee remembered suddenly what they were here for and pulled Angelina roughly out of the shop. "Did you forget why we're here? We have to change history. And now since we're stuck here, we might as well do it here. We've already talked to too many people—first the cop, and now that cashier." Angelina glanced back at the nerdy teenage cashier—who was now probably in his early twenties. "We've already done too much. Let's just do what we came to." 

"Right," she nodded, looking a bit confused. Her dreadlocked friend looked around momentarily, and immediately ducked his head down, and pushed her against the nearest wall. "What're you _doing_?" she demanded as he practically headbutted her.

"Hagrid. 11 o'clock." She turned her head before putting her hands behind her back and whistling "nonchalantly." Lee smacked her lightly before she could make them seem any more conspicuous. "Just walk slowly to the left. Stay with me, and don't do or say anything that might get us noticed," Lee said.

"Would you like me to hold your hand? I see a street coming," Angelina hissed in his ear.

"Shut up. This is serious. Turn right, and stay with—" But they had bumped into a tall, lean man in a trenchcoat before Lee could finish directing Angie.

"Watch it!" the man shrieked nasally, though Angelina was on the ground too. He hurriedly gathered his papers into his briefcase before anyone could help him, and scrambled away. Lee was calling out apologies to his retreating back, as he helped Angelina up.

At this point, even more people were staring at them. Hagrid had come over to see if she was okay. "Uh—yeah, I'm fine, sir," Angelina said, taking care not to look him in the eyes. "Thanks for your help, I'm just gonna go now." She tried to walk away, while leaning on Lee, though even with him, she almost fell.

"You sure?" Hagrid asked, puzzled. "C'mon, I have ter help yeh." He picked her up. "Lemme at least take yeh ter yer house."

"No no, really, she's _fine_." Lee was neither tall nor strong enough to take her from Hagrid's arms. Hagrid finally looked at Angelina for her opinion.

"I am," she agreed, and he reluctantly put her down.

"Well, er, take care, then," he walked away, still confused.

"That could've been pretty bad," Lee said, and Angelina gave him a look. "Let me do it," Lee said, and touched his wand to her leg, and she found she could walk easily. "See, we didn't really need him." Angelina scoffed and felt a wave of homesickness wash over her.

* * *

When they first entered, out of the fireplace, their eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. It finally cleared and Angie saw with repulsion an old, bald man sitting against a wall on the corner, laughing. His teeth were misshapen and yellow, and he was holding an almost empty bottle of a clear liquid that Angelina did _not_ want to try. He was smiling and laughing, though there seemed to be no reason to do so; he was positively sickening. His bones poked out of his bare gray legs, and his clothes didn't adequately cover his lanky chest. While Angelina was looking at him, Lee was looking around, but they both got the same feeling: disgust. They were in Knockturn Alley, in search of an illegal Time-Turner, and both wished they were anywhere else. Lee was the first to temporarily recover. He took a deep breath, braced himself, and walked forward, forcefully ignoring the old man who was leering at Angelina. Lee gripped her hand tightly and kept her by his side as they walked briskly, finally finding a shop that looked like a place to buy the item. It was similar to Borgin and Burkes, but it was called Griffin's Findings. It seemed to be a kind of place to get rare stuff. Most of it seemed to be related to Dark magic, but some things weren't. 

It was one room, dark and gloomy. Every space possible seemed to be stuffed with some thing or other, most of which were hard to see in the light. They saw a few live things: an oversized raven that wouldn't stop cawing at them, an ostrich up against a wall, and it was pecking against the side of its cage savagely. An iguana was sitting on the owner's shoulder, behind the counter. "Yes?" the manager hissed. "What can I do for you?" Even he seemed to be somewhat of an animal. The nose was too pointed, and the eyes were too much like slits. What animal couldn't be said, but it was definitely there.

"What exactly do you sell here?" Lee asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"Depends on who you are," the manager replied, a bad smell on his breath. "You ain't no copper, are you?" He paused, and looked closer at lee. "'Ang on a minute, you're just a kid. 'E's just a kid, Charl," He told the iguana. "You ain't got nuffin to do with the Ministry, I'm sure?"

"Would it matt—"

"No," Angelina finally spoke up. "Hate that place, to be honest. We're just looking for something—uh, how do I put this—not really in the vicinity of the wizard law," she sugarcoated it.

"Illegal, you mean?" he asked, not letting her. She nodded. "Well, what exac'ly are you looking for?"  
"A Time-Turner."

"Wot? A Time-Turner?! I shoulda known." He sniffed at them before going in the back, mumbling to himself. "Bloody kids—getting me all worked up…all for a Time Turner—you'd think they'd be a li'l less childish. My shop, all these great things, poisonous birds, hands that can strangle you from up to a hundred feet away…and they want a bloody Time-Turner." He returned with it. "Thirteen Galleons."

Angelina patted her pockets in search of money. She pulled out several Sickles and a few Knuts. "You got any dough?" she whispered, while the manager tapped his foot impatiently. She counted, coming up with 15 sickles and 12 Knuts. "I've almost got 15 ½," she told him.

"Here," Lee said, counting out his own money and giving it. "Pocket it," he told Angelina, and took the Time-Turner, shrunk it, and put it in his pocket.

"Fine, you pay for it," Angelina nagged him, as if she could have. "I'm just a little short."

"It's fine, Ang," Lee consoled her. "I'm not judging. So where do you think we should do this?"  
"Maybe in a more discreet place this time," Angelina suggested.

"Can we get out of this shithole though, first, please?" Lee pleaded, but Angelina shook her head.

"Look, I hate it here as much as you do," she told him. "We won't look out of place doing anything suspicious here, but we will in Diagon Alley. We should do it here in some alley or something."

"Fine," Lee whined. "Let's do it quick though." They found a moldy-smelling alley, and wrapped the chains of the much more beat-up looking Time-Turner around themselves. They took a deep breath, and Apparated through to time to 1996.

* * *

A/N: Again, bonus points if anyone can find out the theme of the teacher's last names. 


	3. Ginny Weasley At Her Worst

This chapter is a lot more dramatic than the last one. I usually don't write like this, so I'm not used to it.  
**See the bottom for the poll. Another one coming next chapter. Constructive criticism!**

* * *

When Lee and Angelina reappeared, it wasn't much better than what they'd left. Though he knew Angie was right, he wished they had gotten out of there back in 1981. They approached the nearest fireplace, said the appropriate words, and seconds later, were back where they belonged in Diagon Alley. 

"Are we here?" Lee asked after hesitating, because, to be perfectly honest, he couldn't tell. It looked pretty much like the place they had just come from. "Did you _say_ 'Diagon Alley' clearly?" Lee finally turned to Angelina, annoyed.

She was too busy staring at the shops, which now looked like they sold things that were directly related to Voldemort. And it was very easy to believe, if you just looked at the people on the streets around them. There was one big group, huddled in a corner, whispering to each other, and occasionally one head would pop up, and yell, "No!" or something to that effect.

The people walking alone (which was most) had different qualities: all equally terrifying, from people with their heads walking beside them, to people who were 10 feet tall and skinnier than anything, to people who just looked like they'd had the worst life you could imagine. About half the people had their sleeves rolled up and were baring the Dark Mark proudly. The ones who didn't have them had them rolled up anyway, and had either drawn or tattooed a fake one on. Lee and Angelina immediately felt distinctly unwelcome.

"Uh, Ang?" Lee finally said. "I think we screwed up."

"Really?" she asked, though sarcasm was difficult when at any moment someone might jump out at you and possibly hit you with an Unforgivable Curse.

Lee helpfully ignored her sarcasm. "Oh my God. This means You-Know-Who's in power."

"Not necessarily," Angelina replied, though she secretly agreed. "It could just be out of control."

"Which means either You-Know-Who's in power or some idiot who is really good, but he can't control what's happening is."

"Fudge," they said at the same time. "Let's get out of here," Angelina added, and Lee was in no place to argue. They headed for the Leaky Cauldron. When they got there, they found it was completely different. Tom the bartender was gone, and replaced by a woman whose smile was too creepy for the two to stay long. They dashed out of there as quickly as possible and saw that the Muggle world was no better.

"You know what we have to do, don't you?" Angelina asked Lee, as they went into a Muggle coffee shop.

"What?"

"We have to see what happened to Hogwarts. How everyone's doing, if anyone's still _alive_. If we're—Oh my God, what if we're dead?!"  
"We couldn't be dead, Ang. We wouldn't be here if we—are we?"

"We have to find out! If Fred's dead—oh Merlin if Fred's dead…" she closed her eyes, leaned her elbows against the table, and clasped her hands together in silent prayer. Within moments, she was back up, grabbed Lee's wand out of his pocket, and she had gotten up to leave the shop before he realized what she had done.

"Nice pickpocket skills," he commended her. "Now if I could have my wand back?" She obliged. "You just wanted my wand to show that off, didn't you?" She nodded, and pulled out her own. They ducked back into the Leaky Cauldron and Angelina told him she was going to the Burrow. They Disapparated at almost the same time, and Angelina beat Lee by a little bit getting there. She had been there more than him, anyway. They were just outside it, but the Burrow was completely gone. The whole house, everything. It wasn't an easy thing to get rid of, but they seemed to have. Angelina and Lee grabbed each other's hands, and squeezed. "Oh God."

"Do you think they're—" Angelina couldn't say the word.

"I haven't the foggiest," Lee said. "How could we find out?"

"We could ask someone." And within moments they were—_again_—back in the Leaky Cauldron. They were terrified of the witch behind the counter, so they went up to the friendliest-looking customer.

"Excuse me," Lee said politely. "Hi. We're new in town. Do you know what happened to the Weasleys? We've been in Africa for the past eight years."

"Yeah, there's where you belong," the customer said in a low voice. Angelina's fists clenched, but Lee took it all in stride. "Thank you, sir," he said, before walking away.

Angelina hissed in his ear as they walked, "Please, Lee, please, let me take him, please—I can use Unforgivables, they're practically legal now—" but he just shook his head and walked up to the next person with the same request. "Ugh, if Fred were—" she said without thinking, but she didn't dare finish the statement because of their current situation. The next customers, one fat, one redheaded, gave them the information.

"Oh, you didn't know? Wow—uh, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but You-Know-Who—he killed all of them. Right when he rose to fame. All of them but the girl—what's her name?" the pudgy one asked his friend.

"G—something with G—um, wasn't Gabrielle—"

"Ginny?" Angelina said, biting her lip.

"Yeah, that's the one," the ginger one said without a hint of remorse. "Done with the questions?" they asked rudely.

"Not quite," Lee insisted. "Do you know where she is now?"

"How the bloody hell should I know?" the first guy said. "I'm not her fucking stalker."

The second one took pity and informed them, "Yeah, but my sister's her maid. The Weasley girl's location changes so often it's almost impossible to find her, which is the whole point. You-Know-Who's going after her like he did for Potter."

"What a shame that was, eh?" the tubby one said. "Eluded him for so long." Angelina's face fell, but neither Tubby nor Ginger seemed to notice. "He had to go sometime. You-Know-Who's just too—"

"Her location, please?" Lee demanded, for the first time frustration in his voice. He had been insulted for being black, just been told his friends were dead, and now these cretins were complimenting the creature who did it.

"I've heard tell she's currently outside of London," the ginger one whispered. "Islington. 224 Summit Ave." Without a trace of a thank you, the two had already walked out the door, and were immensely relieved to be out.

"That's not even far from here," Lee grinned. "You wanna—"

"Lee Heracles Jordan," Angelina interrupted without even looking at him, "we are _not_ going to walk there." Lee looked around nervously in case someone had heard his middle name.

"Don't call me that," he hissed.

"Shut up. Saving Fred is a million times more important than your foolishness," Angelina said, sounding an awful lot like Professor McGonagall (except without the Fred part). She then Apparated to the one place of Islington she knew: the part when you enter it. Luckily, Lee appeared next to her a few seconds later, but she was already halfway down the road into town. He sprinted until he caught up with her.

"Hey, Mom," he annoyed her, "Why didn't you wait?"  
"Joking may be the way you handle your best friends' death, but it's definitely not mine. Now get your ass into gear," she said, as she speed-walked past him. Lee just stood there, gaping. As she suspected, he was running beside her within seconds, but this time was serious.

"Ready?" she asked, the whole time avoiding his eyes.

"Sorry," he said in answer. She nodded to show that she had forgiven him. They wandered around (but did it _briskly_) until they found Summit.

They knocked on the door, and it wasn't opened for a long time. Angelina bounced around; she was having trouble stopping now that she was going. Finally they heard locks clicking, lock after lock, there had to be twenty or so. Finally, the door opened, and there was Ginny.

"Can I help—" she began, before she realized who they were. "Oh my—Lee? Angelina? Is that you?" And for some reason they didn't know, she ran out and hugged them. She quickly dragged them inside though. "Sorry about that. Can't be seen outdoors. They're after me."

"So we've heard," Lee said gently. "We've come to help."

"Oh, that's so nice, but—"

"No buts," he continued. "I have some bad news."

She threw up her hands. "More?!" He looked confused. "That's all I've heard for the past four years! 'Sorry, Ginny, but your parents died,'" she mimicked. "'Sorry, Ginny, but Fred and George have died! Sorry Ginny, sorry Ginny, sorry!" She sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands. "I just don't know how much more I can take." Angelina and Lee approached her cautiously, as if she was a bomb going to explode at any minute.

"You know, there's people whose spouse dies, and they crack up. They go completely insane. Or their kid dies or parent dies or something, I don't know. Then there's me. My brothers and parents have been dead for so long. And I've survived it somehow." She curled her skinny legs into her body, and she looked so small and scared that Angelina somehow wanted to protect her. She was only fifteen after all. "And I keep wondering—when am I gonna crack up? What's gonna drive me over the edge? I can barely survive in these times. I try my hardest but—" and she was crying now, flat-out crying. Angelina ran over to comfort her.

"Ginny, we just have to tell you this. I know why this happened. Why everyone died," Angelina took her head off her soaked shoulder to look her in the face. "Listen, and please don't be mad." Ginny's eye twitched dangerously. "This whole thing is our fault." She paused and let that sink in before she continued. "We were given a mission to time travel and we failed. We didn't do anything bad purposely, but somehow it came to this. We're _so_ sorry. We're as devastated about this as you are."

"What?" Ginny barked, though she had heard it perfectly clearly.

"We're so sorry."

"_What?_" Ginny repeated. "You're as devastated about this as _I_ am? As I am?! You will never be this devastated in your life. Imagine your six brothers and parents dying before you're fifteen. Then the guy who might actually be the love of your life dies with them. _Then_, a horrible Dark wizard takes control of the universe. And to top it all off, you have to run and hide before they kill you too. You change your home every other day, and you have to bewitch poor Muggles so they'll give you their house. And you live alone. No one there ever to talk to you, to guide you. I'm fifteen years old and my life is already horrible. You had better fix this!" she charged at them now, the tears still staining her cheeks, but her voice was fierce and hard. "You had _better_ fix this." She paused, and then all of a sudden she started laughing and sank down on the couch like a doll. "I can't believe I haven't cracked up yet." She lay down on the couch and cuddled into a ball, laughing.

Angelina and Lee glanced at each other. "Ginny, trust me, everything will be okay. We're gonna fix it. Look, here's the Time-Turner. We're going to fix it. Be safe. We love you. See you soon." Angelina coaxed as they left Ginny, who was still cackling.

* * *

"So what do you think went wrong?" Lee asked Angelina when they had gotten back to London. "What did we do?" 

"Well, there was the fiasco with the cop (that's probably it, that was a _huge_ mistake), there was the Hagrid disaster, and then there was the creepy guy at the place we bought the Time-Turner."

"What day was that, did you ever find out?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, it was July 31st. Don't know why, it seems kind of—"

"July 31st. That was—that was the day before school started."

"Yeah, so?"

"The day before Harry started his first year."

"So?"

"And we started our third year."

"And?"

"You don't think that has anything to do with it? You think it was just a coincidence? Why was Hagrid in Diagon Alley? Maybe he was going to pick up Harry on that day and buy his supplies with him."

"Yes!" Angelina finally got it. "That would make sense. And we delayed him."

"Understatement," Lee informed her. "Anyway, so he was late for picking Harry up. Maybe he didn't show up at all."

"But Harry went to school that year," Angelina said. "But then who took him there?"

"Maybe someone else did, because Hagrid didn't show up. But who?"

"Dumbledore." Angelina stared straight ahead. "He sent Hagrid, but when Hagrid never showed up, I guess Dumbledore figured he'd better do it himself."

"That makes sense," Lee agreed. "So…something horrible must have happened because of that. What could've—"

Angelina gasped. "What if he got _fired_? That'd be horrible."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been that bad because McGonagall would have taken over. She wouldn't let anything horrible happen to the school."

"True, but Dumbledore still wouldn't have had any power, and he's the best."

"But it doesn't add up," Lee sighed. "Sure, McGonagall is no Dumbledore, but still—she wouldn't have let this happen. Something really bad happened. Maybe they appointed a really corrupt person to the job of Headmaster."

"Well, why wouldn't McGonagall have taken the job?"

"Dunno. But we could go to the school and find out who."

"Or better yet, we could look in _Hogwarts: A History_ and see if it's even still around."

"Don't say that," Lee's teeth chattered, though it was quite mild outside.

"Lee, it's probably true." He put his hands over his ears and la la la lahed. "I sound like Hermione Granger, talking like that."

"I wonder what happened to her," her friend asked. "She's probably dead too."

"Everyone is nowadays." And feeling quite depressed, the two went to look for a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_.

* * *

Lee had to catch Angelina when she fainted. Well, it wasn't a real faint, but she was aiming on heading straight for the ground. He uprighted her, but she immediately fell back into a chair. She tried to think of words to say, but eventually just rested her head on the desk of the library. "I just—I can't—" 

"Believe it," Lee finished. "Umbridge? This has to be a joke." He jumped when Angelina suddenly stood up from her chair and in her speed, she knocked over the chair she was sitting on.

"We're gonna do this," she said. "We're gonna do this and do this right. We're gonna find out what we did wrong and we're gonna fix it. Because we are Americans," her chest puffed.

"Britons."

"Britons!" Angelina finished her speech.

"Wonderful speech, Ang," Lee applauded. "I especially loved the choice of words. 'Do this' had to be the best part." But nothing could bring Angelina down right now. She ignored him, and gripped the Time-Turner tightly.

"We're going back to 1981, and we're gonna make absolutely sure that Harry gets to school so Dumbledore doesn't have to get him, that Dumbledore doesn't get fired because he missed something very important when he did this, and hence, _save the day_!" She smiled broadly, and seemed to be talking not to Lee, but to an imaginary audience. "Because we are—" she paused for effect. "BRITONS!"

Lee again applauded and whistled. "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. But Ang, you do realize that after this, our work isn't gonna be done. We still have to improve the world, not just get it back to normal." This took a few seconds to sink in.

"Goddamnit."

* * *

**Sorry for the shortness of chapter, but it's just I really wanted to get this chapter up. It also isn't the best because of this reason. Anyway, I need an opinion to see how I should update in the future. This story could grow to be quite long.**

**Which do you prefer?**

**A) Frequent (weekly to two weeks) updates—like this chapter, shorter, and less quality**

**B) Less frequent updates (monthly or maybe more)—like last chapter, longer and better**

**Thanks. -Grace**


	4. The Search for Amelia

A/N: For chapter 2, I apologize if I wasn't clear, but the incident with the cop and Hagrid took place in 1991.

Disclaimer: I don't own this, guys. If I was witty, I'd find a better/funnier way to say it. Till then, you'll have to deal with the occasional disclaimer every other chapter or so.

* * *

Unless you have an identical twin, you have absolutely no idea how bizarre it is to see yourself walking down the street. The first thought that crosses your mind is "if I'm here…" but then you remember the circumstances: either you have a twin or you've been using a Time-Turner. This was exactly what Lee and Angelina were feeling at that moment. What's even more peculiar is hiding from yourself. Then you kind of backtrack in your mind: will past-me step here or can I hide here? Is this safe? I'm pretty sure this is okay, I don't remember ever coming here before. And the worst part is it's so easy to make a mistake, and if you do, the result is a paradox in the space-time continuum and possibly the end of the world. No one really knows, but most expect the worst. 

The solemn duo watched as the maybe-a-bit-younger-than-them-versions of themselves collided with the man in the trenchcoat. Then, they could predict it: he shrieked and his papers went everywhere, he scrambled away, Hagrid attempted to help Angelina, and finally Lee and Ang walked off. But as they stood there, they realized that it was near impossible to solve this. There was no way they could think of to prevent Hagrid from becoming late without revealing themselves to—well, themselves and therefore destroying the space-time continuum. All they could do was stand there and watch everyone disappear from that spot where the fiasco had just happened. It blew their minds how something so small could affect the whole universe.

_In fact,_ Angelina thought, _I don't think it could._ She had, indeed, read A Sound of Wonder by Ray Bradbury one summer vacation when she was bored, and seen how one tiny little thing could change time travel. But this was too much. Hagrid's huge "delay" lasted a whole 30 seconds. She doubted this was the problem. But what was it then?

And then it hit her. Matter of fact, it didn't just hit her. It socked her in the stomach, jabbed her in the jaw, and made her feel woozy. …Okay, maybe not woozy but definitely idiotic. Why hadn't she seen this before? It was _the man in the trenchcoat_. Something about him, the way he was so uptight, so bothered by the upset of him and his precious briefcase. Why were those papers so important? It wasn't just a coincidence, she was sure of it.

She had been silent for a minute and a half now. She could see Lee was obviously in deep thought as well. The hush was broken finally by Angelina's jovial laughter. She humorously counted down

"5…4…3…2…1…"

"The man in the trenchcoat!" Lee sang right on cue, and Angelina giddily nodded. They returned to the "scene of the crime" as CSI would say, and found exactly what they were looking for. A single paper had been left behind.

It was a letter from a Mr. Brian Cabbage to the Ministry of Magic. Lee scanned it and found that it basically was an alibi for Dumbledore. The crime that Dumbledore had allegedly committed, however, was completely absent. It read that Dumbledore had been invited over for dinner with him and his wife on the date in question. The really convincing bit, though, was at the end. A P.S. read: "As proof, I offer only this: Touch your wand to this sentence and my Pensieve will appear. It only has one memory, and it is of the eve in question. You can see my wife's and my lovely dinner with Mr. Dumbledore. I realize there are flaws to this proof, but I have nothing else to offer, and I hope you will accept it."

"What do you think?" Angelina asked Lee after they had finished reading. "You think this guy's full of crap?"  
"Does it matter?" Lee answered exasperatedly. The point is that Dumbledore had to have a cover story for something. Do you realize what this means? Dumbledore's being tried for a crime." Angelina opened her mouth, but Lee cut her off. "No, wait," he told her sternly. "And what seems like a really convincing alibi that might even save him is missing. _That's _why the world was such a hellhole! Dumbledore was convicted of a crime he didn't commit, so he must've gone to Azkaban. And Umbridge must've been in charge. But—like you said, something happened to McGonagall."

"Well," Angie replied, taking the reins back, "we can figure that out later. The point is—this could be catastrophic! We have to get this alibi to someone in power who can save him!"

"Let's continue being heroic and loud at the Ministry of Magic!" Lee thundered importantly, and Angelina couldn't help but laugh. Lee had gone, though. He had Disapparated as soon as he could. She sighed; this Apparating shit was getting a bit wearing. "Ah well," she mumbled to herself and disappeared as well.

* * *

Lee probably shouldn't have been standing outside the entrance to the Ministry of Magic motionless with his girlfriend on his mind. There was no need to wait for Angelina. She was resourceful and would probably find him quickly, so why was he still there? He was just standing right in front of the telephone booth wordlessly, as if he was waiting on line, but there was no one to wait for. That's why Angelina was a bit surprised. She Apparated a few meters away and at first thought something was very wrong. Her running up to him startled him, and he looked up. "Yes?" he uttered, as if she had called his name. 

"Lee, you all right?" she held his shoulders. He shrugged them.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just—" he sighed and rubbed his eyes as if he had just awoken from a long slumber. "Thinking. About—you know—"

"Katie?" she nodded sympathetically. He nodded, and sighed again mournfully. But it was a quick emotion and he seemed to kind of brush it off to work on the matter that might just save the human race. Angelina was already halfway to the phone, dialing 62442 or "MAGIC."

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic," crooned a deep voice. "Please state your name and business," it continued, seemingly invisible yet crystal clear.

"Yes, Angelina Johnson and Lee Jordan, here to speak to—erm—Dumbledore?" she half-asked, half-told the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece? she vaguely wondered.

"Albus Dumbledore…any other purpose?" the voice said curtly. "No," she answered, and the voice seemed annoyed, but eventually told them: "Visitors, please take your badges and attach them to the front of your robes." Angelina could've sworn she detected a trace of annoyance. She decided to give the undetectable voice the benefit of the doubt, though, and took the badges. Angelina's read: _Angelina Johnson, visiting Albus Dumbledore _and the two quickly pinned them to their robes before entering.

A cold gust of wind greeted them as they closed the door slowly. Lee had only been to the Ministry twice in his life, but it had never looked as melancholy and depressing as this. The fireplaces, for one, which were normally popping with people coming out, and the lines that once invited people to come in, were diminutive. Candles on an occasional table here and there gave the room a spooky light. The few people milling around looked considerably grimmer, older, and sadder than Lee had ever seen people. Any idiot could tell that the Ministry of Magic was corrupt, but worse than that, the people in power made no attempt to hide the sadness and hatred that reeked of the place. There were obviously more important things for Voldemort's supporters to do than keep up the façade of happiness. And this somehow gripped Lee the most. They just didn't care anymore.

The whole sight made him appreciate the world he had lived in with Katie…and Alicia…and—Fred and George. Ugh. _Shouldn't have opened that door. _He visibly shuddered; now was not the time. Once he got started, Angelina would start. And though he would never tell anyone this, he felt she had just a _bit_ more reason to be sad than he did about the twins' (or at least Fred's) deaths. If something happened to Katie…

"Angelina," he whispered, gazing worriedly at her glazed-over eyes. "You realize we have to find Dumbledore?"

"What? Oh yeah. Sorry." She shook herself and tapped her pocket to make sure the paper was still in there. Everything seemed to be all right, Lee noted. "So where would Dumbledore or someone who has the power to save Dumbledore?"

"Well, who's involved in the Magical Law?" Lee wondered. Then, when he couldn't figure it out, "Ang, you got any idea?"

"Hmm," she muttered. "Who was that lady who recently died back in 1996? She had something to do with it, didn't she? What was her name? Remember, she was related to that chick in Harry's year—"

"Oh yeah, Bones. Susan Bones."

"But what was the lady's name? It wasn't Susan, it was, erm—"

"Amelia?"

"Yes! Amelia Bones. Wow, I hope she hasn't been killed in this horrible day and age."

"She bloody well may have. We'd better go ask someone," Lee said urgently. They rapidly found an Information Desk, and the irritable man behind it seemed just eager to make trouble. Fat, middle-aged, and pimply, he seemed to be one of those types who weren't gutsy enough to get into the fight, but egged the ones who _would_ fight on. "Excuse me, is Amelia Bones—um, well is she, you know—around?" Lee stammered.

"Are you visitors?" he croaked in response.

"Why, yes, we are," Lee gave him his winning grin.

"Your badges don't say anything about Amelia Bones," he continued. "They say 'visiting Albus Dumbledore.'"

"Yes, well, actually, we were going to talk to Amelia—uh, Ms. Bones _about_ Mr. Dumbledore, you see," Lee tried.

"Well, why should I believe that?" countered the porker.

"Will you just tell us where Amelia is?!" Angelina shrieked. A few people stared, but frankly, Angelina didn't give. And finally the man seemed shook up, frightened even. He reluctantly looked through a large book at his desk, and told them: "She's on level two. Ask someone down there," he retorted rudely.

"Thanks so much," Angelina said politely, as the two disappeared as quickly as they had come.

* * *

In the past, Minerva McGonagall would sometimes picture what her life would be like in the future. She did this when she was a little girl, and dreamed of becoming the first female Minister of Magic. Instead, she became a teacher at Hogwarts. She dreamed when she was a young adult, and imagined flying away to Egypt and starting her life all over again, ridiculous as it may sound. Instead, she kept her head down, studied what she was supposed to study, and ended up with her Hogwarts job. She would grow to adore it, despite her secret craving for adventure. 

And she did this even after she had worked at Hogwarts for a long, long time, teaching thousands of students. She dreamed of what her future would be. Would she live as long as her colleague Albus had, to one hundred and sixty-two? Would she die before she hit her 70's (which were just around the corner)?

But she had never, ever imagined the kind of life she was having now. For that matter, she doubted anyone could ever think that they could have this kind of life. She had been in hiding for a year and a half, she thought. She kept a journal, and she guessed the date occasionally, for she knew the date she had been abducted. Oh, she knew it very well.

It had all started because of Albus's so-called "crime." At least Minerva thought of it that way. She would never see her friend as a criminal, no matter how many people, including her own family, tried to convince her otherwise. Nearly everyone thought he had done it. It was ridiculous, really. Albus Dumbledore himself, committing a crime? Albus Dumbledore, in a cell in Azkaban? Albus Dumbledore, accused of viciously attacking a Muggle farmer's goats and then killing the farmer himself with his own pitchfork? Actually, she couldn't believe that Scrimgeour had managed to convince everyone of that without too many questions.

At first, a lot of people didn't believe it either. But the trial was huge. Everyone devoured the articles in the paper next day, recounting every word he said. Someone even got the stenographer to sell him the transcript and then that was in the _Daily Prophet_ the next day. It was insane, and Minerva had especially hated it. By the end of the trial, nearly everyone believed that Albus Dumbledore was a murderer.

Then, when Albus was safely locked up in Azkaban, the blackmailing started. Since Albus was no longer the Headmaster, it came to pass that the job would go to Minerva, right? Well, it should have, were it not for the blackmail.

She would get mail every day, even twice sometimes, that would threaten her, "If you take the job, we'll get you," one read. Another: "Don't return to Hogwarts, or we'll kill you upon sight." And they all wanted her to go into hiding. Minerva was no wimp, but even she was terrified when she got abducted.

She had stepped outside to run to Hagrid's hut briefly at around nine o'clock. She had forgotten to light her wand. It was shadowy and dim, and she could barely see anything but the lights of his hut far away. But when she was maybe halfway there, she felt something snatched from her robes pocket. She felt around, and realized too late that it was her wand. She felt herself being frozen by a spell, and then carried off. At night, she couldn't see who it was. The last thing one of them said to her was, "If you return, next time we'll kill you." All she knew was they had pilfered her wand and carted her off to a remote part of Wales.

There she lay now, in the attic of a medium-sized house. A nice Welsh Muggle family lived below her. They had six kids, so the house was always noisy. This was nice for Minerva, as she could occasionally listen to them and get some entertainment in her otherwise mind-numbing life. Someone, sometimes an elder child, but usually one of his or her parents, would bring up a meal for her three times a day. Other than that, she spent most of her time either writing in her journal, looking out the window at the scarce passersby, or rereading one of the seven books she had in the attic. In other words, she was desperate for someone to come save her.


End file.
